Editor's Note: In search of social responsibility
The prospects for the enduring popularity of this slogan in 2005 are also quite good considering that the words don't seem to leave the lips of leading international business leaders. Neither do I call this a slogan lightly-it sounds far grander then it fares in real life. The reality, in and around business, is sad and terrifying. That was the conclusion drawn by participants of this year's World Economic Forum in Davos. The biggest brains of business have begun to worry that their wallets are 550 times more full than the wallets (or change purses) of workers. This exact figure, as calculated by the Harvard Business School, is dizzying. Even more so if we look back at the 1960s, when the CEOs of companies made on average twice as much as the president (now they make 62 times as much) and only 40 times more than workers.
The demoralization of big corporations is eating away at the image of business. Could this be why the leaders of the corporate world decided to focus on world poverty instead of global trade this year in Davos? Every fifth person in the world lives off less then one dollar a day, every 3.5 seconds someone dies of hunger and 114 million kids don't go to school because their parents can't afford it. For more sensitive people, this sad litany comes as no surprise, but for businessmen it does. Or at least it appears to.
Will the business world come to the aid of the impoverished world? Paradoxically, thanks to the gaping void between the rich and the poor, it's beginning to look possible. When three of the richest people on earth make more than the GDP of 48 of the world's poorest countries, it really only takes one month's bonus from one of these men to put the economies of several struggling countries on their feet. Besides, Davos has not forsaken its priorities: the foundation of liberal economics is, after all, increasing profits. For profits to increase they need new markets and stable trading conditions. At the current rate of widening disparity between rich and poor, however, experts warn that the global situation will move in the opposite direction. It has become very much in the interest of business to prevent a global slide into a widespread threat of war, social unrest and terrorism.
Eliza Durka
Editor-in-chief
The demoralization of big corporations is eating away at the image of business. Could this be why the leaders of the corporate world decided to focus on world poverty instead of global trade this year in Davos? Every fifth person in the world lives off less then one dollar a day, every 3.5 seconds someone dies of hunger and 114 million kids don't go to school because their parents can't afford it. For more sensitive people, this sad litany comes as no surprise, but for businessmen it does. Or at least it appears to.
Will the business world come to the aid of the impoverished world? Paradoxically, thanks to the gaping void between the rich and the poor, it's beginning to look possible. When three of the richest people on earth make more than the GDP of 48 of the world's poorest countries, it really only takes one month's bonus from one of these men to put the economies of several struggling countries on their feet. Besides, Davos has not forsaken its priorities: the foundation of liberal economics is, after all, increasing profits. For profits to increase they need new markets and stable trading conditions. At the current rate of widening disparity between rich and poor, however, experts warn that the global situation will move in the opposite direction. It has become very much in the interest of business to prevent a global slide into a widespread threat of war, social unrest and terrorism.
Eliza Durka
Editor-in-chief
